Cook County, 14 miles SW of the Loop. Transportation and stone quarries have shaped the development of Hodgkins. In the late 1880s the Santa Fe Railroad came through this area and the Kimball and Cobb Stone Company opened a large limestone quarry. The town was named for Jefferson
Hodgkins, president of the company, and was incorporated as a village in 1896.

The quarry continued to dominate the local scene until the 1950s, although the economy diversified somewhat with the addition
of numerous motor freight terminals.

Hodgkins has a growing Mexican population, almost 30 percent of the population of 2,134 in the 2000 census. Somewhat fewer than half of the residents live
in three mobile-home parks. Proximity to Interstates 55 and 294 makes Hodgkins a natural distribution point, a fact recognized in 1995 when United
Parcel Service opened a huge sorting facility here. In 1997 the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway established an intermodal
freight facility at Hodgkins.

Hodgkins, IL (inc. 1896)

Year

Total
(and by category)

Foreign Born

Native with foreign parentage

Males per 100 females

1900

195

—

—

—

1930

302

—

—

—

1960

1,126

—

—

103

1,126

White (100.0%)

1990

1,963

22.9%

—

121

1,473

White (75.0%)

2

Black (0.1%)

8

American Indian (0.4%)

52

Asian/Pacific Islander (2.6%)

409

Other race (20.8%)

589

Hispanic Origin* (30.0%)

2000

2,134

33.3%

—

123

1,746

White alone (81.8%)

3

Black or African American alone (0.1%)

10

American Indian and Alaska Native alone (0.5%)

1

Asian alone (0.0%)

347

Some other race alone (16.3%)

27

Two or more races (1.3%)

933

Hispanic or Latino* (43.7%)

Ronald S. Vasile

Bibliography

Eicholz, Linda Buralli, and Janet Klotz Coleman. Village of Hodgkins: One Hundred Years of Progress, 1896–1996. 1996.